In a petition in which the Madras high court directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) not to enrol lawyers who were in the civil service, and to conduct more stringent pre-enrolment checks of law graduates older than 40, to ensure they went to a proper law college rather than having obtained a mail order degree.

The bench observed that it was shameful for the Bar Council to remain a mute spectator to sale of law degrees by ‘Letter Pad’ colleges and called for urgent remedial steps to contain the menace. “Otherwise, criminal elements and undesirous people will hijack the very system. In fact, criminalization of the Bar has already started,” it said.

This case was only the tip of the iceberg, showing how full-time salaried employees/staff were working and simultaneously doing law degrees elsewhere, it said.

reported the PTI.

Between 2012 and 2014, the number of law colleges under the BCI’s watch increased from 800 to at least 1,200.

Photo by Satdeep Gill